Page 92 - Chemical and process design handbook
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Speight_Part II_A 11/7/01 3:16 PM Page 2.33
ALCOHOLS, LINEAR,
ETHOXYLATED
Ethoxylated linear alcohols can be made by the reaction of straight-chain
alcohols, usually C to C , with three to seven moles of ethylene oxide.
12 14
[
C H OH + nCH CH O → C H O(CH CH O) H
14 29 2 2 14 29 2 2 n
The resulting alcohols are one type of many alcohols used for deter-
gents. The linear alcohols can be produced from n-paraffins by way of
alpha olefins or by way of the chloroparaffins. Or they can be made from
alpha olefins formed from Ziegler oligomerization of ethylene.
Sulfonation and sodium salt formation of these alcohols converts them
into detergents for shampoos and for dishwashing.
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